OSA Student Members to Gather in Moscow for IONS 2010

WASHINGTON, June 17 – The International OSA Network of Students (IONS) will be hosting IONS-8 in Moscow, Russia, June 21 to 25 at the N.E. Bauman Moscow State Technical University and the International Laser Center of M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University. IONS-8 features technical and professional development programming for students in the field of optics and photonics and is being organized by OSA student chapter members at Moscow State and Bauman State Technical Universities in Russia. The Optical Society (OSA) is a co-sponsor of the event.

Highlights of IONS-8 include:

Scientific sessions featuring keynote speakers James C. Wyant, 2010 OSA president and dean of the College of Optical Sciences at the University of Arizona, USA and Vladimir Shalaev, professor at Purdue University, USA. The scientific session will also feature student technical talks and poster sessions as well as an award for the best talk and poster presented.

A professional development program with talks from Jean-luc Doumont, Principiae, Belgium, on “Making the most of your presentation,” Rachel Won, Nature Photonics, Japan, on “Manuscript preparation and submission,” and Dmitry Y. Rogozhin, Eurasian Patent Office, Russia, on intellectual patenting.

Lab tours of Moscow State University and Bauman State Technical University, short courses, OSA student chapter presentations, a career networking event and excursions to Moscow landmarks.

IONS was first created in 2006 during OSA’s Annual Meeting, Frontiers in Optics (FiO), by several OSA student chapters that wanted a way for young scientists to connect from around the world and actively engage in optics and photonics. All IONS meetings are independently managed by OSA student chapters; 11 IONS meetings have been held around the world since 2006.

“IONS’ remarkable growth is due to the enthusiasm, talent and hard work of OSA’s student chapter members,” said Elizabeth Rogan, OSA CEO. “Their dedication to providing networking and learning experiences for their peers around the world is commendable. OSA is honored to be a sponsor of IONS-8 and looks forward to continuing to support these events in the future.”

Three other IONS meetings are being held in 2010 in Recife, Brazil; Tucson, Arizona, USA; and Dunedin, New Zealand. IONS meetings take place each year in Europe, North America, South America and Asia/Australia. More information about IONS-8 and other IONS events are available at http://ions-project.org.

About OSA

Uniting more than 106,000 professionals from 134 countries, the Optical Society (OSA) brings together the global optics community through its programs and initiatives. Since 1916 OSA has worked to advance the common interests of the field, providing educational resources to the scientists, engineers and business leaders who work in the field by promoting the science of light and the advanced technologies made possible by optics and photonics. OSA publications, events, technical groups and programs foster optics knowledge and scientific collaboration among all those with an interest in optics and photonics. For more information, visit www.osa.org.